Local sailors look to break Sicilians' winning run

One of the major racing events in the sailing calendar is without doubt the 90-mile Malta-Syracuse offshore race which, for over 50 years, has been organised by the Royal Malta Yacht Club in collaboration with the Centro Nautico Juvenilia.

SAILING - Malta-Syracuse offshore race

The origin of this race dates back to the early fifties. It formed part of a complete offshore programme made up of some nine events which were races to Tripoli, Tunis, Porto Empidecole, Messina, Lampedusa, Syracuse, two local races round Malta and Gozo and another Round Malta only.

The first contesting boats were 'captured' yachts known as 30-Square Metres and later renamed Windfall, a name given to remember the way these boats came in possession of the local club.

With the surrender of the German Navy a large number of sailing boats were confiscated at the Baltic Naval port of Kiel.

These crafts were used by the Germans to train young officers to sail. Almost all these boats ended in England except seven. They were brought over to Malta and became the nucleus of the Royal Navy Sailing Association (RNSA) offshore group.

This small racing fleet gave the locals an opportunity to taste offshore racing. One of these boats was a 50-Square Metre which was still at the yacht marina in 1980 bearing the name of Rosanna.

When the Windfall boats became too old to compete in offshore regattas, they were replaced by six new Folk Boats which were then donated to the RNSA by the Nuffield Trust of UK.

Inspired by the constant success of this offshore race, it was decided to have the race started on alternate basis, one from Malta with the next starting from Syracuse.

Rothmans sponsored a trophy for the winner of the Malta-Syracuse race. John Ripard, the leading helmsman of the time, had the right to retain it for good after three consecutive successes. However, Ripard donated the trophy back to the Royal Malta Yacht Club.

Another Maltese skipper of high repute was Vincent Valentino. He succeeded in winning his first ever Malta-Syracuse race in 1972, having missed to do so on two previous occasions.

Lately, the outcome has always been dominated by the Sicilians. Today, Maltese sailors will try to make up for recent upsets when the 2004 Malta-Syracuse race sails off from Marsamxett.